Conference

Cheri Dedmon, Teaching Channel Account Manager, provides solutions to challenges faced by both large and small educational organizations throughout the Southeast and Midwest.

Dedmon has been an active member of the education community for over 43 years, having served in the role of classroom teacher, high school principal, district staff and member of the National School Reform Faculty.

Dedmon also launched a local teacher residency program in Tennessee supported by the Public Education Foundation. She serves as an academic coach to new teachers at a local urban STEM charter school for girls in her community.

Leslie Hazle Bussey is CEO and Executive Director of GLISI (the Georgia Leadership Institute for School Improvement), a nonprofit serving and growing over 1,500 school leaders annually in 50+ districts across Georgia.

Now in her 10th year at GLISI, Bussey leads a team of skilled facilitators, designers, and researchers of adult development experiences to bring to life GLISI’s mission, which is also their theory of action: Uplift school leaders,  transform mindsets and action, create vibrant cultures of innovation and build excellent and equitable schools.

GLISI’s approach to leader development recognizes that leaders need more than technical skills to successfully build vibrant school cultures that disturb the status quo and engage every child – and adult – in meaningful learning experiences connecting them to a choice-filled future.

Prior to GLISI, Bussey was Director of Research in the Learning Centered Leadership group at SREB. She began her career over 25 years ago as a teacher of middle grades students in Lusaka, Zambia.

Bussey holds a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from Saint Louis University, an M.Ed. in Educational Media and Technology from Boston University, and a B.A. in English Literature from the University of Washington.

Steph Jensen is the director of community contracts for Boys Town National Community Support Services.

Jensen joined Boys Town in 2003. She has been in the educational field since 1995, holding positions from middle school teacher, district reading specialist and school consultant, speaker and author.

In her 15 years with Boys Town, Jensen has overseen the implementation of external training contracts nationally and internationally. She has worked closely with organizations ranging from the Japanese Child Welfare Department to Chicago Public Schools Office of School Improvement. 

Jensen applies her education knowledge and experience with school reform and transformation to schools across the country, helping them create healthy learning climates that focus on the social and emotional needs of students.

Catherine Guimarães, Regional Director for Teaching Channel since 2015, supports districts in using Teaching Channel Plus – a video-enabled learning management system – and adopting personalized professional learning. She believes educators are powerful influencers and leaders in making a better universe. 

Prior to her work with Tch, Guimarães led a team in designing online learning courses, served as an assistant principal at Girls Prep Middle School, led educators across New York City in the transition to the Common Core, and taught in middle schools in Boston and Washington, D.C.

Guimarães holds a Master of Social Work and a Master of Public Policy from Columbia University.